Food product.



WILL B. sum, or SYRACUSE, NEw'YonrL nssrenon 'ro MERRELL-SOULE COM- F SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' Patented Aug.1l4l,llll'l'.

FOOD PRODUCT.

1,236,?(W, Specification of Letters Patent.

No Drawing.

-To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, WILLIAM B. GERE, a

citizen of the United States, and resident'of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Im rovements'inFood Products,

of which the ollowing is a full, clear, and

exact description.

Thls mventlon relates to certain new and useful improvements in food products and pound food product are a homogeneous mass 1 of the two substances in proper distribution.

The basic idea of the invention centers around the compounding of milk for food products with various other substances, par- .ticularly sugar, in such a manner that the resultant product in powdered form, pref erably containing less than three per cent.

of moisture, presents the component substances in uniform distribution adapted for long preservation in any climate and readily soluble in liquids.

Milk powder produced by the process set forth in Letters'Patent granted to Robert Stauf, No. 666,711, and which maybe called the spraying process is termed soluble,

and when pro erly mixed with water or.

other suitable liquid andthoroughly beaten in by means of suitable heaters or other de-. vices will enter into complete solution, forming a reconstituted milk, and in the sense that the powder is susceptible of such complete solution the term soluble is prop-- erly applied, but it is obvious that the term soluble so farv as it relates to the rapidity or ease with which the substance enters into complete solution, is a relative .one .and that v milk, and necessitates a Application tiled February 1, 1915. Serial No. 5,499.

by .the spraying process to. distinguish 1t from milk powder produced by contact with heated surfaces or rollers, which powder ls-not soluble in or capable of entering mtocornplete' solution with cold water, but when mixedwith hot water and thoroughly stlrred or beaten in will for a short time retain an apparent solubility, but if allowed 1 to stand unagitated for any considerable amount of time, there will be a heavy preclpltation showing that the solution is not complete, and one of the objects of this inventioil is to cause the soluble milk powder produced by the spraying process to more readlly and easily enter into. the state of complete solution of which it is capable.

- For example, when a spoonful of, powdered milk produced by the spraying proc- 'ess is' placed in a receptacle contaming hot liquid, such as coffee or the like, the'light particles tend to float upon the surface of the liquid, and when agitated or stirred, as

with a spoon, collect in balls or masses of various sizes and only partially enter intosolution. Upon breaking up these balls or masses, the interior portions are found practically perfectly dry, the particles of milk massing together in such a manner 'as to prevent penetration of the fluid.

Complete solution of which the powder is susceptible is dependent upon contact of the fluid with the separate particles of the particular and careful treatment.

.I have discovered that by combining with this'milk powder a substance readily soluble in Water and which entersinto solution practically automatically upon contact with the fluid. or with a relatively small degree of agitation, the dissolution of this substance tends to prevent the massing of the particles and causes the dissolution of the less readily soluble milk powder, the extent to which this is accomplished depending lar ely upon the uniformity of distribution 0 substances.

By this process, not only is the milk rendered readily soluble in fluid, in itself an advantage not heretofore attained, but a new product. as a homogeneous compound of two- 1 in. uniform distribution contains a very or more separate substances is obtained.

The process consists essentially in com-' pounding the separate substances in desired proportions in a solution so that the relative distribution is uniform, and in reducing the liquid compound to powdered form by the process set forth in said Stauf atentthat is,'-by bringing the liquid in nely divided condition into moisture-absorbing air so that the liquid constituents are substantially completely vaporized, the resultant powder containin less than three per cent. of moisture and eing a homogeneous mass of the substances comprising the product.

I may take a quantity of liquid milk and dissolve herein a quantity of sugar, (either cane, b t or malt sugar in accordance with the pro uct desired), equal in weight to the solids of the milk or any other desired proportions of the substances and reduce the compound to powdered form in the manner above described, by vaporizingsubstantially all of the liquid constituents, so that the product combining the separate substances slight amount of moisture, such amount, in case skim milk is used, preferably not exceeding three per cent., and in case cream is used, not more than one and one-half per cent. and in case whole milk or partially skimmed milk are used, the moisture con tent should preferably be reduced as low as two and one-half per cent, 'and'in using cream the moisture content may advantageously be reduced as low as one half of one per cent.,the preferable amount varying with the percentage of butter fats contained in the milk, for I have discovered that although the keeping quality of the product depends upon various correlated conditions, yet one ofthe most important of these is the moisture content.

When this product is placed in hot water, cofiee, tea, etc., the sugar prevents massing of the particles and the rapid dissolution of dicated, may be either skim milk, whole the sugar upon contact with the liquid breaks up the particles of the product, and the specific gravity of the sugar causes the immersion of the particles which are rapidly and minutely subdivided by the dissolution of the sugar, so that the milk in very minute uantities is subjected to the action of the liquid and rapidly (particularly if slightly agitated) enters into complete solution.

The substances may be combined in various proportions and the milk, as above inmilk or cream, or any other desired proportion of the butter fats or other constituents of the milk. I may pasteurize and I may condense the milkin any suitable or well known manner before dissolving the sugar therein or mixing the sugar therewith, and

,the like, having a than that of the milk powder or the liquid I may heat the liquid mixture before spraying to facilitate the vaporization of the moisture constituents.

The processis applicable to various com binations of substances, such as milk, sugar and cocoa. or chocolate, or milk, sugar and coffee, or milk, sugar and egg, or milk and any soluble solid or solids, preferably including a solid more readily soluble than the milk powder, and I am enabled to produce a number of readily soluble newfuseful and commercial products by reason ofmy dis covery and the process herein described of which the above combinations are important instances. As an-example, I find that by forming a liquid mixture consisting of substantially 15% cocoa, 45% sugar, and 40% powder as hereinbefore described, a prodnot is produced which combines the milk, su

ar and cocoa in uniform and homogeneous istribution and which is readily soluble in water, and when dissolved produces an excellent beverage without the addition of any substance except water.

Various soluble substances which enter into solution with some difficulty may be rendered morereadily soluble by the homogeneous incorporation of a readily soluble substance, geneous incorporation of a readily soluble crystalline substance, such as sugar, salt, or higher specific gravity with which it is to enter into solution.

The homogeneous, soluble, practically permanent compound of milk and sugar prepared as herein described may be considered as a base, and various substances in powdered form, such as cocoa, chocolate, coffee, egg, etc., ma be mechanically mixed therewith in desire proportion to produce a new, useful and readily soluble product, and I desire to claim herein the base with which many and various substances may be mixed inma-ny and various ways, as mechanically with the base product, or homogeneously with the solution in the process of preparing the base, and although I have described particular combinations of substances to which the process is applicable, and particular products resultant from such combinations, I do not desire to limit myself to any parand particularly by the homoticular combination of substances or any claims.

this invention as set forth in the appended WhatI claim i's: I which the natural properties of the solids 1(1 1. A soluble food product in powdered have not been altered. form, consisting of substantially dry spher- In Witness whereof I have hereunto set icalparticles, comprising homogeneously my hand this 30th day of January 1915. 5 distributed ulilk and sugar.

2. A readily soluble food product in pow- I WILLIAM GERE' dered form, consisting of substantially dry Witnesses: spherical particles comprising homogene- E. A. THOMPSON,

ously distributed milk and sugar and in V oLA HoWLAND. 

